In this scene the players perform a re-enactment of the murder of Hamlet's father. As Claudius watches the play his behavior becomes very strange and he ends up demanding more light. After the torches are lit Claudius leaves the room and he is followed by the audience of the play. Upon seeing the king's reaction Hamlet and Horatio agree that Claudius is guilty of his father's murder.
Then Hamlet is accusing Guildenstern of trying to play him like a musical instrument saying "o you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me." Polonius then comes to escort Hamlet to his mother but he refuses the offer and says he will go alone. The soliloquy takes place after Polonius leaves and it is here that Hamlet decides he will be honest with his mother when he sees her. ANNOTATED SOLILOQUY:
Hamlet:
‘Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out 420
Contagion to this world: now could I drink hot blood,
And do such bitter business as the day
Would quake to look on. Soft! now to my mother. 425
Hamlet believes that the darkness of night makes him capable of something bitter, which is to deal with his mother after the Ghost's revelation is proven to be true by Claudius' reaction to the play. Night is always thought to be a time when we lose our inhibitions and do those things we would never be comfortable with in the light of day. He is in a vengeful state of mind and believes that it is the perfect time to do the evil act of brutally killing his uncle. He was once afraid that the ghost of his father was the devil and now he himself is acting like one by saying that hell is released.
O, heart, lose not thy nature; let not ever
The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom:
Let me be cruel, not unnatural:
I will speak daggers to her, but use none;
Hamlet still shows some affection towards his mother but he is still extremely angry at her hasty marriage with the man who killed his father. He says that he won't hurt her physically but emotionally by using harsh words. He says that he wont cross the line like Nero did (see notes below).
My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites; 430
Hamlet is not willing to allow his tongue or words express what is really in his heart/soul. Therefore, they are hypocrites for not representing the same thing.
How in my words soever she be shent,
To give them seals never, my soul, consent!
Again, Hamlet is willing to shame his mother with words, but is not willing to go further than that. His soul will never consent to anything more than words as "daggers." 427. Nero: murderer of his mother Agrippina
431. How…somever: however, shent: punished
432. give th
em seals: i.e., validate my words (by putting them into action)
CONCLUSION:
The power of this soliloquy is that it finally reveals a Hamlet ready for action. The play has proven to him that Claudius is guilty, and the time of night seems to provide Hamlet with a context for such an evil deed as murder. One is sure that at this point Hamlet will finally avenge his father's murder.
(5th soliloquy-- Act 3, Scene 2, lines 419-32, Folger Edition)
INTRODUCTION:
In this scene the players perform a re-enactment of the murder of Hamlet's father. As Claudius watches the play his behavior becomes very strange and he ends up demanding more light. After the torches are lit Claudius leaves the room and he is followed by the audience of the play. Upon seeing the king's reaction Hamlet and Horatio agree that Claudius is guilty of his father's murder.
Then Hamlet is accusing Guildenstern of trying to play him like a musical instrument saying "o you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me." Polonius then comes to escort Hamlet to his mother but he refuses the offer and says he will go alone. The soliloquy takes place after Polonius leaves and it is here that Hamlet decides he will be honest with his mother when he sees her.
ANNOTATED SOLILOQUY:
Hamlet:
‘Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out 420
Contagion to this world: now could I drink hot blood,
And do such bitter business as the day
Would quake to look on. Soft! now to my mother. 425
Hamlet believes that the darkness of night makes him capable of something bitter, which is to deal with his mother after the Ghost's revelation is proven to be true by Claudius' reaction to the play. Night is always thought to be a time when we lose our inhibitions and do those things we would never be comfortable with in the light of day. He is in a vengeful state of mind and believes that it is the perfect time to do the evil act of brutally killing his uncle. He was once afraid that the ghost of his father was the devil and now he himself is acting like one by saying that hell is released.
O, heart, lose not thy nature; let not ever
The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom:
Let me be cruel, not unnatural:
I will speak daggers to her, but use none;
Hamlet still shows some affection towards his mother but he is still extremely angry at her hasty marriage with the man who killed his father. He says that he won't hurt her physically but emotionally by using harsh words. He says that he wont cross the line like Nero did (see notes below).
My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites; 430
Hamlet is not willing to allow his tongue or words express what is really in his heart/soul. Therefore, they are hypocrites for not representing the same thing.
How in my words soever she be shent,
To give them seals never, my soul, consent!
Again, Hamlet is willing to shame his mother with words, but is not willing to go further than that. His soul will never consent to anything more than words as "daggers."
427. Nero: murderer of his mother Agrippina
431. How…somever: however, shent: punished
432. give th
em seals: i.e., validate my words (by putting them into action)
CONCLUSION:
The power of this soliloquy is that it finally reveals a Hamlet ready for action. The play has proven to him that Claudius is guilty, and the time of night seems to provide Hamlet with a context for such an evil deed as murder. One is sure that at this point Hamlet will finally avenge his father's murder.
Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY0Jn0pWhFk